Bill 196 explained in plain English
Ensuring Integrity in Ontario Elections Act, 2011
Ontario legislature bill summary, status, timeline, sponsor, votes, and official sources.
At a glance
Official Legislative Assembly of Ontario snapshot for 39th Parliament, 2nd Session. Representative vote breakdowns appear when the Assembly publishes an Ayes and Nays page for the bill.
Our plain-language take, written for civic education.
Source: By PoliticalData.ca
The Ensuring Integrity in Ontario Elections Act, 2011 amends the Election Act to prohibit interference with voting and impersonation of election officials, and increases penalties for corrupt electoral practices.
This bill, called the Ensuring Integrity in Ontario Elections Act, 2011, makes changes to the Election Act to prevent certain electoral practices. It introduces new rules against interfering with someone's right to vote and against pretending to be an election official or someone authorized to act for a candidate or party. The bill also increases penalties for corrupt electoral practices.
- Introduces new offences related to election interference and impersonation.
- Increases the maximum fine for corrupt electoral practices from $5,000 to $25,000.
- Increases the maximum imprisonment for corrupt electoral practices from six months to two years less a day.
- Amends Section 91 of the Election Act to apply a maximum fine of $25,000 and a maximum imprisonment of two years less a day for improper voting by special ballot.
- Repeals and substitutes Section 92 of the Election Act to include a wilful miscount of ballots or making up a false statement of the poll as a corrupt practice with a maximum fine of $25,000 and a maximum imprisonment of two years less a day.
- Adds new Section 96.2 to the Election Act, making it an offence to prevent, impede, or interfere with another person's exercise of their vote, with a maximum fine of $5,000.
- Adds new Section 96.3 to the Election Act, making it an offence to falsely represent oneself as an employee or agent of the Chief Electoral Officer, a person appointed under the Act, a candidate or their authorized representative, or a representative of a registered party or constituency association, with a maximum fine of $5,000.
- Amends Section 97.1 of the Election Act to specify that if a corrupt practice is committed knowingly, the penalties can include a fine of up to $25,000 and/or imprisonment for up to two years less a day.
- Individuals participating in elections in Ontario.
- Electoral officials and their agents.
- Candidates and their authorized representatives.
- Registered political parties and constituency associations.
- Deputy returning officers and poll clerks.
- Right to vote without interference.
- Prohibition against impersonating electoral officials or representatives.
- The Act received Royal Assent on June 1, 2011.
- Section 1 of the Act comes into force on July 1, 2011.
- The rest of the Act comes into force on the day it receives Royal Assent (June 1, 2011).
- Increased maximum fines for corrupt practices, up to $25,000.
- Offences under new sections 96.2 and 96.3 carry a maximum fine of $5,000.
- Corrupt practices, including those under new sections 96.2 and 96.3 if committed knowingly, are subject to a maximum fine of $25,000 and/or imprisonment for up to two years less a day.
- Wilful miscounting of ballots or making up a false statement of the poll is a corrupt practice with penalties of a maximum fine of $25,000 and/or imprisonment for up to two years less a day.
- The bill text does not specify the exact date when the amendments to sections 91, 92, and 97.1 of the Election Act come into force, only that Section 1 comes into force on July 1, 2011, and the rest on Royal Assent (June 1, 2011).
- The bill does not detail the process for determining if an offence was committed 'knowingly' for the purpose of classifying it as a corrupt practice.
- The bill text does not explicitly state the precise legal definition of 'interference' or 'impedes' in the context of preventing someone from voting.
This bill amends the Election Act. Specific sections are altered, and new sections are added to address electoral practices.
Source: Preamble, Section 1, Section 2, Section 3, Section 4
The penalties for improper voting by special ballot are changed to a maximum fine of $25,000 or imprisonment for up to two years less a day, or both.
Source: Section 1
The section dealing with wilful miscounts of ballots or making up a false statement of the poll is repealed and replaced with provisions making it a corrupt practice with penalties of a maximum fine of $25,000 or imprisonment for up to two years less a day, or both.
Source: Section 2
This section is replaced to confirm that if an offence listed (including new offences) is committed knowingly, it is considered a corrupt practice with penalties of a fine up to $25,000 and/or imprisonment for up to two years less a day.
Source: Section 4
Generated using AI from official bill text. Not legal advice. It is written by PoliticalData.ca for civic education, automatically checked and spot-reviewed before publishing.
Official textProcess Snapshot
Vote Summary
This bill does not have a published recorded division in the current official sources, so representative-by-representative vote counts are not shown.
No published representative vote breakdown
The current official sources do not publish a recorded division breakdown for this bill, so there is no representative-by-representative table to show.
Official sources
Status, sponsor, votes, and timeline on this page are drawn from these official legislative sources and public records. Each summary above is attributed to its own source.
How this data is sourced